When the Japanese automaker Nissan announced that they had broken their previous lap record at the ’Ring, the German sports carmaker Porsche wasn’t very happy about it and demanded proof. So here it is the run made on April 23rd earlier this year. What’s interesting is that Nissan’s test driver, Toshio Suzuki, barely needs to use the GT-R’s top gear. It looks like the Nissan engineers sized Godzilla’s fifth cog to make the super car run right under redline and in the VR38DETT’s sweet spot around the Nordschleif circuit.
When you think of setting speed records, there is only one place that comes to mind, the endless dried up lakebed in Utah, the Bonneville Salt Flats. However this is not the place where the most recent land speed record was broken. The English crew traveled to the northwest corner of Nevada in order for their Thrust SSC jet powered streamliner to hit 714 MPH, making it and Royal Air Force pilot Andy Green, the fastest man and machine of the planet.
The Thrust Super Sonic Car was powered by a pair of Rolls-Royce turbine engines and after their initial record setting attempt and a little fine tuning, the team came back two weeks later to go 763 MPH. It would take the velocity of three Bugatti Veyrons just to come close to the Thrust SSC’s top speed run that was set on October 15, 1997. What is most impressive is that this record has stood uncontested for over a decade.
It is only fitting that the fastest man in the world will make an appearance at the Goodwood Festival of Speed this weekend, but it has also been announced that the 1000 MPH hopefuls, team Bloodhound SSC will be on hand as well to show off their super sonic machine for the thousands of automotive enthusiasts on hand.
Fresh off the announcement that their Hyundai Genesis Coupe is set to defend the title of Car of the Year for the Korean automaker after its larger four door sibling, the Genesis Sedan, took home the prize last year. Well, Hyundai Motors recently celebrated yet another milestone in the company’s history.
Last Tuesday, June 23, the Korean-based car manufacturer celebrated its 1 millionth Hyundai in Africa by hosting a rather elaborate and fanciful shipyard ceremony.
While we weren’t necessarily expecting the guys from Hyundai to party like rockstars, this achievement does entitle them to feel like one. After all, releasing 1 million cars in one region is already a cause for celebration, but doing in a place like Africa – which, to be candidly honest, is not on anybody’s list as one of the top car markets in the world, is downright amazing.
A few weeks back, Top Speed told you about Jesse James and his suicidal pursuits to push himself farther and harder than he ever has before. As part of his on-going television series, Jesse James is a Dead Man, Mr. James has set out to perform some of the craziest and looniest stunts we’ve ever seen tried to escape from a burning fuselage as preparation for this record setting attempt.
While some might question the credibility and ‘bad ass factor’ of some of his stunts, there’s no denying that James’ main event stunt is as legitimate as it gets. The man who shot to mainstream fame with his hit sow Monster Garage, recently attempted a stunt that – if he would have been successful – would have shot his name immediately into the annals of the Guiness Book of World Records.
Why aren’t we surprised that New York City has driven away with yet another ignominious distinction to bolster their claim as a hazardous place to operate your vehicle. This time around, a recent survey/study released by Autovantage says that New York City is the home to drivers that suffer most from the ill-fated syndrome known as road rage.
Surely, we know what it’s like to drive in a city where traffic has become the norm rather than the exception and as far as traffic situations go, angry drivers are sure to follow. And yes, New York City is full of both of them.
The survey included a relatively small sample size – only the 25 largest metropolitan areas in the U.S. – trying to keep into consideration the main causes for drivers to enter a fit of rage when behind the wheel. The poll consisted of 2,518 individuals, most of whom, we’d expect are veterans of tailgating, speeding, horn honking, and the occasional verbal assaults directed at their fellow drivers.
So what does it take to get to be number one? For athletes it means a lifetime of disciplined training, for a car company it can mean decades of thorough and consistent work, but in the recently wealthy car crazed tuner scene of the UAE, it’ll run you a little more than $14 Million. Saeed Abdul Ghafour Khouri recently shelled out 52.2 dirham, the equivalent of $14,300,000 at an auction at the 7-Star Emirates Palace Hotel in Dubai. Don’t feel bad about the money; it’s going to charity that helps accident victims.
When Saeed laid down all that dirham he was buying more than just a metal rectangle with a coat of paint on the front, he is buying a place in society. The oil-rich nations of the Persian Gulf are developing a form of car culture that makes Paris Hilton’s car collection look amateur. All these new funds have made the citizens of Abu Dhabi crazy for custom super cars. If you can imagine what it costs to have a set of rims mounted on your lowly Acura Integra, imagine the cost of milling a custom set of alloys and then mounting them on your Black Series. The UAE’s tuning scene has developed in such a way, that only a handful of these super-tuned machines could stand up to any group of big money collector cars from around the rest of the globe. The Middle East has become a place where your super car is nothing, unless its gold plated or modified to a point that would mean bankruptcy for most.
In this new status-seeking environment it is not uncommon to see a automobile wearing a number plate that is many times more expensive than the car itself. So after all, is Saeed that crazy for spending so much for the right to be first? However this can also be seen as a wise investment, because someone will always want to be number 1.
Jesse James has never been one to turn down a challenge. The man has been never been associated with the words ‘conservative’ and ‘meek’. So it comes as no surprise that James is set to take on yet another challenge that, should he be successful, would put him on the annals of the Guiness Book of World records.
In his latest show, Jesse James is a Dead Man, the impetuous engineer, stuntman, and resident whack job is set to attempt a stunt that is as every bit as dangerous as all the others he has done in his life. Using a hydrogen-powered vehicle, James will attempt to break the land-speed record and in doing so, add this achievement to an already stellar list of ridiculous stunts he’s done throughout his career.
The weapon of destruction James is set to use is actually no stranger to speed record attempts. Called the Streamliner, the machine was most famously used by Dees-Milodin Engineering in their own attempt at history. Despite being an artifact – it was built in the 60’s! – James is pulling all the stops in rebuilding the Streamliner into a speeding bullet. He’s putting in a twin-turbocharged 9.8L V8 engine from Chevrolet and will be exclusively using hydrogen gas to power his rocket ship.
British racing fans have a new reason to watch Formula One this season, despite the low point that was reached when last year’s champion got caught up in an embarrassing scandal with the rest of the McLaren team, putting a cloud over the capital of motor racing. Well out with the new and in with the old, because Great Britain has a new favorite son. Jensen Button, the driver who couldn’t buy a win, and took a pay cut to ride in the Brawn GP chassis for 2009 has just set a record winning 6 of the first 7 races of the season after finishing first at the Turkish Grand Prix this past Sunday.
This is quite a turnaround for Button, who has driven Benettons, Renaults and quite a few Hondas. His previous highlights included finishing 3rd in the points behind the wheel of a BAR in 2004 before he had to wait until 2006 for his first win, also coming in a Honda this time at the Hungaroring. Until the start of this season, Jensen just wasn’t as fast as the rest of the Formula 1 field. So where did all this speed suddenly come from?
Watch out Bugatti, because someone has just has just recorded a land speed record, for an alternatively fueled vehicle. This gas powered Audi A4 sped its way into the pages of the Guinness Book Of World Records with a 225+ MPH run. Under the hood, the four door Audi uses a modified turbocharged 3.0 Liter V6 running on compressed natural gas. An added advantage of the alternative gas is its rating of 120 octane, allowing Hohenester, the tuners which prepared the vehicle, to pile on the boost without worrying about detonation. Although the twin turbo motor makes closer to 800 HP, it was restricted to only 700 ponies for the record setting 226.55 MPH run.
What we want to know is, where to get some CNG for our test fleet.
This 1957 Ferrari 250 Testa Rossa became the most expensive car ever sold at auction this past weekend, fetching even more than the record setting 1961 California Spyder that sold at Ferrari’s Legenda E Passione for almost $11 Million about this time last year. The 250 “red head” was produced from 1957 to 1958 and the Italian automaker produced the vehicle in limited numbers, 22 to be exact. When this black and red Ferrari crossed the R&M auction block wearing the numbers 124, the final bid stood at 9,020,000 Euro (about $12 Million).
According to the Managing Director of R&M Auctions Europe, Max Girardo, “the legendary 250 Testa Rossa was one of the most exciting motor cars ever to be presented in auction history." This particular prancing horse has the longest documented racing history of any Italian stallion and was driven by classic racing drivers like the American Formula One Champion Phil Hill, Englishman Peter Collins and even the 1961 German Sportsman of the Year, Wolfgang von Trips.
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